A Vampire can dream, can't he?
by Dubbers
Summary: “I've often wondered what this moment would be like. Me … you tied up. It's a shame you brought the children.” A collection of stories based loosely on Tesla's comment. Mostly friendship. LAST STORY UP - The Closet
1. The Reason

**AN: This is going to be a series of unchronological unrelated one shots all based loosely around Tesla's comment. Set between The Five and Revelations, slight spoilers for the former. Unbeta'd, but I hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly they're not mine.  
**

"I've often wondered what this moment would be like. Me … you tied up. It's a shame you brought the children."

The Reason

They were trapped. That much they were sure of: the who, the how and the what-the-fuck-for, not so much. So they stayed where they were; not that they had much choice in the matter.

The concrete door opened slowly, throwing the harsh yellow light from the compound on the cell's two occupants. A figure in clichéd black clothing paused in the doorway, a tray in one hand. With its free one, it typed something on what was probably a keypad. There must have been a time-delay on the lock, for the figure had time to raise sinister looking gun straight at Dr. Helen Magnus' head before the shield lowered. The figure turned to face Nikola Tesla – the room's only other occupant.

"You move," it stated calmly. "She dies." Its tone left no room for argument.

Nikola sighed. These people knew him too well for his liking. He would never let Helen any harm come to Helen if he could prevent it.

The figure slowly lowered the tray to the floor, gun never wavering, before backing out of the door again. Using his free hand to raise the shield that prevented their escape once again, he kept his firearm trained on Helen until the shield had rippled back into place around the room.

"Damn." Said the ever-effluent Mr. Tesla, as the door shut once more, leaving only the one light bulb for them to see by.

Helen turned to him, eyebrows raised in question. "You could have escaped." She stated calmly.

Nikola froze.

Helen persisted. "You could have let them shoot me and escape."

Nikola sighed. Obviously whoever had captured them knew him better than Helen did, a thought which disturbed him a lot.

"But I didn't." he replied, carefully avoiding the real question.

"But you didn't." agreed Helen, the smile evident even in her voice, although it was hard to see in the sparse light. She was more than aware of the reason why, but wanted to see the vampire sweat a bit: if vampires did sweat that is.

In any case, Nikola was getting flustered. He got up, and quickly marched towards the opposite wall. He pushed his hand against the shield that surrounded them once more, watching it flare with colour at his touch. He prodded along its length, testing it again and again for any give. It remained stubbornly uncooperative; if anything it repelled his movements.

"Why?" Helen kept pushing Nikola for an answer, mimicking his movements on the wall with her questions.

Nikola was annoyed. Helen was playing with him now and he knew it. So, like the shield, he didn't give in.

Helen could tell she wasn't going to get a reaction like this. Suddenly she got up from her place against the back wall, and stepped slowly closer to her friend.

Nikola tensed, hearing her light footsteps coming nearer. "I've already told you why Helen."

Helen stopped briefly before continuing to pad closer.

"And then you tried to kill me."

Nikola froze again, biting his lip in contemplation.

"But I didn't."

"You tried to-" They both heard the catch in Helen's voice as she spoke. "You tried to." She reaffirmed; her voice steady this time.

Nikola span around to face her. "No Helen." he declared, deciding enough was enough. "I _threatened _to. I would never have actually…" he sighed as he trailed off. "I'm sorry for what I did."

Helen was taken aback by the sincerity in his eyes, and nodded briefly, too shocked to speak.

They were only about a foot away now, Helen's steps and Nikola's sudden change in direction having brought them closer that either had realised. Both could feel the awkward silence that was fast approaching.

Helen quickly turned away and leant her back against the wall. She closed her eyes and breathed out sharply. "Our rescue party should be here within the hour."

"Damn." A voice much too close to her face swore. Helen's eyes snapped opened to find Nikola's face about ten inches from her own. During the mere seconds she'd had her eyes shut he had positioned himself in front of her, palms on either side of her shoulders.

Helen started back, hitting her head on the wall behind. She flinched.

Nikola continued talking, the smile that had been absent from his lips since their capture once more in pride of place. "After all, you, me, alone together in a locked room…" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "An hour's an awfully short amount of time…"

***

Fifty minutes later, Ashley, Will and Henry lowered the shield to the cell, and opened the door. They paused on the threshold, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Nikola Tesla was sat in the furthest, darkest corner of the cell, eyes downcast and looking very sorry for himself. Dr. Helen Magnus meanwhile, was leant nonchalantly against the adjacent wall, eyes perusing the small book in her hands.

Upon hearing the door open, she looked up, while Nikola stayed still.

"Ah," said Helen. "It's about time." She swiftly tucked the little book away in a handy pocket, before making her way over to the door. "I assume you apprehended everyone?"

"Yeah, course Magnus." Will replied. "We trashed their tech as well."

"Excellent. In that case, let's get going then." Helen turned to face the creature still huddled in the corner. "Come along now Nikola. Stop moping, it doesn't suit you." The man in question remained motionless. Helen gave an exasperated yet fond sigh, before striding swiftly from the room, Henry and Will hot on her heels.

Ashley remained in the doorway, watching as the vampire got up and tried to recover his composure. He brushed down his suit jacket and made his way purposely towards Ashley and the door.

As he approached, the light from the doorway finally illuminated his face. Ashley gasped as she made out the still angry red mark on his cheek.

Nikola growled as he caught her staring. "What?"

"Man..." breathed Ashley. "What happened?"

Nikola glared at her as he continued his way through the door, brushing past her in the process. Just when Ashley had given up all hope of an answer, he spoke to her over his shoulder.

"Your mum slaps hard."

Ashley had to refrain from laughing on the way back to the van, and from the looks on the others faces when she got there, she wasn't the only one.

**~Fin**


	2. The Monster

**The second one-shot in this little series, although technically it's the third I'm publishing the second separately. This one's set anytime before Sleepers. I still don't own, still unbeta'd. I hope you enjoy.  
**

The Monster

It should have been a simple operation. All they had to do was collect an already secured rare abnormal, from the address provided. Simple, right?

Wrong.

Helen and Will had arrived at the scene to find one very _uncontained_ rare abnormal going on a rampage through the back streets. They'd managed to get it cornered when it started spitting acid.

"Shit!" said Will. "Your contact didn't mention that!"

"No, he most certainly did not."

And then things had gone from bad to worse when it turned out they weren't the only ones interested in 'George'.

They'd been surrounded by the Cabal in a matter of minutes, and the evil gun-wielding men had kindly shot Will in the leg to show they meant business.

After being hauled off to a sinister looking compound, they'd been questioned, and it soon became apparent that these people had no idea who they were. And while that was partially a relief, it also made them much more likely to kill them quickly.

When professing that they had no idea what an abnormal was and that they were just concerned passersby who happened to be carrying guns, they were shoved in a small room and told to 'enjoy being eaten alive.'

***

The room smelt of blood and urine – a ghastly combination wherever you are, let alone locked in a cramped space with no air-freshener.

Helen went immediately over to Will, who had pulled himself over to one wall and was desperately trying to staunch the blow flowing from his leg. He looked up as she came over.

"Oh god it hurts!"

Helen sighed and sat down next to him. "You've just been shot Will; I'd be more worried if it didn't."

Will turned to face her. "So, how are we getting out of this one?"

"Well..." Helen began, but she was cut off by a growl. They both froze.

In the short time since their arrival, neither had thought much of their captor's departing words, nor bothered to look around the cell.

They looked up. There was only one strip light in the room, but it was enough to illuminate a humanoid creature, one arm loosely chained to the ceiling, crouched in the corner. It growled again.

"Oh shit." Will said. Their predicament suddenly seemed to have grown lot worse. "Being eaten alive is really not the way I want to go."

Helen shushed him, and slowly got up. "Hello?" she called out. There was no answer. "Can you understand me?" There was another growl.

Will reached out and grabbed Helen's sleeve as she went to move forward again. "Magnus, _what are you doing?_"

Helen turned back to Will, and carefully disengaged his arm. "It may be frightened, and frightened abnormals are much more likely to attack. If I can show it that we're not a threat, it may be inclined not to kill us."

"Oh really?" Will whispered, their voices seemed too loud in the space. "And what if it just happens to like eating people for breakfast, and the only reason it hasn't attacked yet is because it's not hungry!"

"Then we really are screwed."

"Brilliant!"

Will watched as Helen moved forward once again.

"Magnus?"

She turned back around to face him again, an exasperated sigh escaping her lips.

"Yes Will?"

"Just..be careful okay?"

Helen smiled. "Aren't I always?" It had been a rhetorical question, but Will replied anyway.

"Nope."

Helen smiled again, and then turned back to the figure, edging slowly forward once more.

As she got closer, it soon became clear that the chain wasn't a chain at all, but more like some kind of material. Helen wondered for a minute why it looked vaguely familiar.

The creature was most certainly male, and actually looked human, although very malnourished.

"Hello, my name's Helen, and that there is Will." She gestured randomly behind her. There was no reply, but she continued anyway. "We're not here to hurt you, we're prisoners. We're not a threat."

A pair of sharp teeth revealed themselves at her last statement. "No." The teeth said. "I am."

"So you can understand me." She hadn't registered the words he had spoken, just that he had.

Will however, had. "Magnus!"

"Not now Will, he's talking!"

"Magnus, I need you to back away! Now!"

Helen turned around to face him. "What? Why?"

"He's go-shit! Look out!"

Helen turned back around just in time to see the man pounce before she was knocked to the floor, pinned underneath him, the man's tether straining.

"Magnus! Get off her you bastard!" Will looked terrified. He tried to get up, but the gunshot wound wasn't cooperating. He settled for throwing his shoe instead.

The man froze.

He took little notice of the flying thing that had just hit him in the head; instead he seemed to gag for a couple of seconds, before abruptly pulling himself off of Helen and threw himself back into his corner.

Helen stayed on the floor for a couple of minutes in shock, panting heavily from the struggle.

"Magnus?" Will's worried voice carried across to her. The man groaned.

"I'm fine Will. How's the leg?"

"I'm more worried about my heart at the moment – that gave me quite a scare! Bloody hell Magnus."

The creature groaned again, but this time its pitiful vowels could be distinguished as words. "No....no....no....no...."

Helen slowly raised herself to her haunches; Will watched nervously from the sidelines.

Now that Helen could see the man more clearly, she could discern more of his features; the claws that extended from his fingernails, the pointed teeth, the shoulder length, dark, shaggy hair on his bowed head; and as he looked up, she saw the eyes: pits of endless darkness staring right into her.

"Nikola..." she whispered his name, almost afraid of the reaction.

"Hello again Helen..." the man who used to be Nikola Tesla replied, his voice weaker than Helen could ever remember it.

"Oh Nikola." Helen moved forward as if to go to him, but he shrank back.

Will called out to her.

"Magnus! Are you insane?!"

She ignored him, and Will went back to applying pressure onto his wound.

"No young man," Nikola replied for her. "But I think I may be."

"God Nikola, what happened?"

"You really don't want to know." The Vampire smiled grimly. "Suffice to say I haven't had my medication for a while." He seemed to struggle for a bit, but then his eyes cleared and his teeth started looking like human teeth.

Helen was silent for a minute. Will was sulking. Nikola coughed.

"Why can't you get out?" she asked at length.

Nikola tugged on his tether in answer.

Will scoffed. "You seriously can't break through _that_?"

Nikola growled. "Of _course_ I can! I was just waiting here in a damp gloomy cell for my own pleasure!" he sighed, and then explained. "It seems to be resilient to my strength, and my claws can't cut it. Evil bastards must have planned this."

"Well then," said Helen, digging around in her pockets. "Problem solved."

She brought out a penknife and brandished it to the room.

The men raised their eyebrows.

Helen sighed, and swiftly crossed the room to Nikola's cell. Taking the tether in her free hand, she lifted the penknife to it and promptly cut it in half.

"Ta da." The boy's jaws dropped. "Now come along and we'll still be back in time for tea."

**~Fin**


	3. The Promise

**AN: Okay, sorry it took a while to get this up but I have an annoying habit of writing things on paper first before typing them up. Also, this story only fits very very loosely with Tesla's comment, but I thought I'd post it here because it's still Nikola and Helen trapped together...kind of. This one ran away from me, I really didn't mean to for it to turn out like this, although I like it. Be warned, it's sort of sad.**

**Finally, I may have used a different view on Helen's immortality than your own/the show's, so if this doesn't fit with your ideas, consider it AU. **

**This is set pre-series by about 20 years. Contains spoilers for End of Nights. I don't own anything except the mistakes, as this is still unbeta'd. **

**Thank you so far for the reviews and encouraging words I've recieved. I hope you enjoy.**

The promise

Nikola was still waiting for night to come when they dumped the next body in the pit with him. He'd been here a couple of hours now. They'd shot him and left him for dead – which he probably would have been if not for his healing ability. Luckily they hadn't known what he was, so they'd just dumped him in the pit along with the remains of their previous victims. He just had to wait until nightfall so he could climb out without being noticed - even as fast as he could move he would be easily visible in broad daylight - and as much as he loved a good fight, bullets still _hurt_ and really he wasn't in the mood. So he'd just sat there since his recovery, waiting.

And then they'd thrown the next body in.

He knew immediately who it was, even thought he hadn't seen her in at least 40 years – what with him being dead and all. She hadn't changed much, except the hair. Personally he preferred the blonde ringlets, he'd have to make sure he told her that when...

Nikola brought that train of thought to an abrupt end. If she was dead, it really wasn't going to make much difference what colour her hair was.

Not bothering to wait until the footsteps had died away, he slunk over to where she now lay, motionless.

"Helen?" he whispered, fumbling around her neck to try and find a pulse. There wasn't one. Nikola quickly choked back the sob that threatened to escape his lips, and instead busied himself with collecting information.

She was still warm; not dead long then, maybe he could still revive her if her injuries weren't too severe. He couldn't seem to find any though. She was bruised in several places, but that was probably from the fall, and they were certainly nothing life threatening. No large cuts or lacerations, no broken bones, or any bruising around the neck to suggest strangling. Not even any needle marks to suggest poison, unless they'd fed it to her...

It was then Nikola noticed the wisps of cotton stuck to her still pink lips. _Oh god, they suffocated her._ He tried not to think about it, focussing instead on the possibility of reviving her. If there was no actual damage there was a better chance. Any others in his position would have thought that chance very low, but he was Nikola Tesla. And the fact that Helen had vampire blood coursing through her might help also.

The mortals called it; he called it something more difficult to pronounce, but as long as it worked Nikola didn't care what it was called.

***~~~***

Helen's skin was paler and her lips tinged blue when he finally stopped. The sky had darkened slightly but he had got nothing from his efforts. There was still one more option though. He didn't like it, but he had no choice.

His decision made, Nikola quickly stood, gathering Helen up into his arms. Night hadn't fallen yet, but it was darkening, so he hoped that that (added to the fact that they thought him dead), would give him they advantage they needed. The risks were higher now though; if Helen were to get shot...

Not giving himself time to ponder on that thought, Nikola jumped.

Using his inhuman strength he was able to the hellish hole in the ground in one go; his incredible speed getting them to cover before they were noticed. Now came the tricky part.

The compound which they were in was surrounded by a fence; a fence which was rather a long way from their current position. To escape would require a mad sprint across guarded open ground to somewhere in the fence he could leap over, and even at the great speeds he could reach, they would still be visible in the half-light. Nikola just had to hope that he was fast enough to avoid the bullets.

***~~~***

Samuel Wright had been a hired gunman most of his adult life, and in that time he'd seen some pretty odd things. So when a fast-moving blur sped into his line of sight, he didn't hesitate to start shooting.

***~~~***

Nikola felt the bullet rip through his shoulder before he heard the gunshots being fired. He clenched his teeth in pain and kept running. There wasn't that much further to go now, and then they'd be safe...sort of.

Another bullet narrowly missed his foot before he launched into the air, easily clearing the fence. Still he kept running, the bullets pinging on the fence behind before they died down. They were still in danger, and with every second that slipped away, the chances of his outrageous plan working were growing slimmer. So he kept running, aiming towards the nearest friendly looking building that was far away enough from where they'd come.

He just hoped they had a good power supply.

***~~~***

Adam Johnson was on duty for what felt like the fifth time this week already. He'd had to swap shifts a couple of times due to the bug that everyone but him seemed to be getting. He worked as a guard in some rich and important person's house, but he didn't know who they were or why they were important. Everything was very _hush hush_. The job paid well though, so he didn't complain...much.

Adam was on his last round for the night when the back door in the kitchen was kicked open. A man stood in the doorway; a rather limp looking brunette in his arms.

Adam was startled, but remembered his training. "Hey," he said. "You can't come in here."

The man stepped further into the room, and Adam caught sight of the blood decorating his suit. To top it off, the woman in his arms looked rather dead. His brain went into overdrive; thoughts of murderers trying to hide their victims bodies and set up innocent people crowding through it. He went for his gun.

The last thing Adam saw before he blacked out was the man's impossibly close fist coming straight towards his face.

***~~~***

In any other situation Nikola would have found the guard feinting most amusing: but not today. He still had one very dead Helen Magnus in his arms, and one very stupid plan to revive her. She had to have been dead at least an hour by now, and Nikola had never done anything like this before.

He made his way over to the nearest free electrical socket on ground level; Helen cradled tightly in his arms, and thought one more time over what he was about to do.

There was a reason he'd never done this before, and that was because it was going to hurt: a lot. And with anyone else also, it was very unlikely to work. Helen however...

But time was of the essence, so he got to work.

Putting one knee up as he knelt beside the socket, he carefully extracted one arm from its embrace on Helen, keeping her upright on his upright leg with the other. Using his free arm, he promptly stripped her of all unnecessary clothing and all metals he could find on her person. Then, twisting the arm holding Helen so his fingers touched the base of her neck, the other one hovering over the socket, he said a quick prayer to whichever gods might take pity on him. Finally, he allowed his vampire side to take over, and plunged his nails into the electrical circuit.

_The pain was intense, so much so that he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming; which isn't pleasant at the best of times, let alone if you've got fangs. But he would endure, for Helen. If his suffering would help her, suffer he would._

***~~~***

Adam Johnson woke up just in time to see the man – whose nails and teeth seemed to have grown significantly – plunge his nails into the socket; the dead woman in his lap.

Adam stared open mouthed at the pure blue electricity that started to dance around the pair, seemingly flowing through the man, and into the woman, shocking both continuously.

Adam noticed the lights start to flicker, and thanked God that there was currently no one in the house but himself and another guard, the owners having gone out earlier.

He got up slowly, unsure of what he needed to do, but still transfixed by the display before him.

Suddenly the dead woman spluttered back into life: Adam knew no more.

***~~~***

Nikola retracted his nails as soon as he felt Helen's heartbeat splutter back into existence under his fingertips. He was surprised his plan had worked; after all, almost everything about it had been completely improvised and slightly insane. He quickly steadied himself to keep from collapsing – something that security guard seemed to have done again – and surveyed the angel in his arms.

The colour was starting to return to her as she breathed deeply to fill her oxygen deprived body. Her eyes were open, and she was awake; but her gaze was unfocussed, and Nikola doubted she could actually see much, if anything, so he gently closed her lids.

He waited until her breathing had evened out to something more like normal before lifting her up once more. Then he set off once more, on hopefully the last stage of their journey.

***~~~***

When Adam woke up next it was around midnight. The kitchen was an absolute mess – glass from blown bulbs and blood scattered everywhere – with Adam lying in the middle of it.

It was at that precise moment (as luck would have it) that the owner of the house and his special guest of the night walked in through the kitchen door.

Adam struggled to get up for a moment, before deciding he liked the floor much better.

***~~~***

At around the same time, Nikola had finally made it with his precious cargo to the Old City Sanctuary. Luckily Helen hadn't discovered his secret way in, or else he would have had to have used the front door, and Nikola didn't plan on revealing himself to the world just yet.

Making his way stealthily around the house, he soon found Helen's room. It was in the same place it had always been – _nostalgic old girl._

Nikola opened the door...and found a pair of wide eyes staring up at him.

"Errr..." he said. Maybe Helen had changed rooms after all.

The small blonde girl bit her lip anxiously – Nikola thought the gesture far too grown up for her; she couldn't have been more than four years old.

"Mom?" the girl questioned.

"Ummm...no." said Nikola. He never had been very good with children. "I'm not your mum."

"Mom?" she sounded almost scared now. Nikola went to speak again when one of her hands reached up and grabbed Helen's wrist. It looked suspiciously like she was checking her pulse...and then everything clicked into place.

"Ashley?" he asked. The little girl looked up with her wide eyes and nodded slowly. Seeming to have found what she wanted, she withdrew her hold on Helen's wrist.

_So this must be baby Druitt..._Nikola found himself thinking. Let it never be said that Nikola Tesla didn't keep track of what was going on in the world.

"Ashley, I need to put your 'mom' on the bed. Can you help me?" She nodded again, and followed him over to the bed. "I need you to pull back the covers for me, can you do that?" Little Ashley nodded a third time and quickly set about her task. When she had finished Nikola carefully laid Helen down on the big bed. He wasn't entirely sure when she had fallen asleep, but he didn't want to wake her.

As he tried to make her more comfortable, Ashley climbed up onto the bed next to her mother, and went back to holding her wrist. Nikola found it almost sad that the young girl felt the need to constantly check that her mother was alive, but it was understandable knowing Helen.

"Ashley," he addressed the girl once more. "I need you to promise me something." She looked up at him. "Your mother was hurt last night." He saw the fear building in her eyes and quickly carried on. "But she's much better now. Ashley, I have to go now, so I need you to look after your mom. Look after her for me, okay? Can you do that?"

Ashley nodded again, and Nikola turned to leave. He was soon at the door and so missed her whispered reply.

"Always."

***~~~***

_Helen dreamed that night of bullets and long journeys, whispered promises and fire coursing through her veins. And through it all, two deep black eyes kept their watch over her._

When she woke the next morning it was to find the midday sun blaring into her room, and Ashley curled up next to her, crying.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Upon hearing her voice Ashley uncurled and threw herself into her arms. "I...I thought...I thought you weren't gonna wake up." The little girl spoke raggedly through her tears.

Helen felt the tears spring to her own eyes at her daughter's words and wondered what had brought this on. "Ashley, sweetheart, look at me." Wide eyes met her own. "I'm awake, I'm alright, it's okay. I'm not leaving you." Ashley buried her head in her shoulder once more and held on tight, her mother hugging her back. Mother and daughter stayed locked in their embrace for several hours, neither wanting to let go. But all too soon they were needed, and life carried on.

***~~~***

Ashley never mentioned what had brought on her fears, but she remembered her promise. She trained hard and mastered everything she could; soon fighting side by side with her mom, constantly trying to protect her. And more twenty years from the day she'd made a promise to a man she now knew was Nikola Tesla, she made sure she kept it. Standing over her mom pumped full of source blood, one hand holding back the last of Cabal's super warriors, she thought back to that night.

"_Look after her for me, okay?"_

Ashley took one last look at her mom and knew she'd done all she could.

"_Always."_

**~Fin**


	4. Oh God

**AN: Sorry about delay, computer's are evil. Sorry for the somewhat depressing matter this story was based on but I started writing this in when I was studying evil and the Rwanda, Bosnia and Pinkville massacres. So, yeah, my apologies. Couldn't think of a title, but at least it doesn't begin with 'the'.**

**Again it's only loosely related to the Sleepers comment, but it is Helen and Nikola, though not really slash. I've actually realised that these are more Nikola/Helen friendship, but they should be getting more shippy soon.  
**

**At least two more stories will be published this weekend here to make up for it. Set wherever you wish. Pre Sleepers. I don't own anything, except maybe a Jarx :D**

Oh God

"Oh God." Said Will. Helen agreed with his thoughts.

The sight before them was horrific; hundreds of rotting corpses were strewn about the cave floor, most of them half-eaten, chunks of flesh torn from their bodies, probably whilst they were still alive.

They had been on the trail of a particularly vicious creature/abnormal in ------. People from towns and villages within a twenty mile radius had been going missing, and local police had reported strange animal sightings; strange as most indigenous predators in these parts weren't bright purple or could burn things with their eyes, so the Sanctuary network had been informed. Henry had also picked up some energy readings from the area that could have been emitted by a Jarx - an abnormal fitting the description given from the sightings.

The trail had led here: the creature's lair.

The smell was awful and even Big Foot visibly paled. The cave was quite large, but that did nothing to alleviate the ghastliness of the scene, for deep red blood coated the body-free floor area.

Helen gulped and moved forward, the other two following, although more slowly.

The bodies were mainly at the sides of the cave, and upon closer examination she could tell they were the missing people even though some parts of their faces were chewed beyond recognition, or simply missing altogether. There were old, young, men, women and children, all quite dead.

And against the back wall, next to the carcass of a many-toothed purple abnormal (probably the Jarx; the one responsible for the state of the room) sat one Nikola Tesla.

Helen blinked to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

He was slumped against the rock, eyes closed, face even paler than usual and breathing deeply. There was some blood on his ripped shirt, but as far as Helen could see the damage had already healed.

She cocked her gun and moved forward, signalling to Will to check the abnormal. She kept her line of fire directly on the vampire.

Nikola grunted as she approached. "Is that all the thanks I get?"

"What are you doing here Nikola?" was the only answer he got.

"Just taking a vacation; you know, I thought I'd see the sights, check out the local culture...but it turns out the sights are rather gory and the culture is being eaten alive, so I thought I'd step in before anyone else died." Helen was briefly shocked at the bluntness of his statement, but Nikola carried on, eyes still closed. "Looks like I've done your job for you. What took you so long?" The usual derision had crept back into his voice and Helen found herself riled by it, but refused to take the bait.

"Why are you here Nikola?" she repeated, knowing that there was something else going on, there always was.

"I heard the weather was good." Nikola's tone was mocking, he knew it annoyed her.

"Nikola." She drew out the last syllable warningly. Sometimes she would be happy to let it go, to play along with his little games, but not today; not when they were standing in a cave full of dead people in some treacherous mountain range.

Nikola relented. "There were rumours flying around about a creature living up here that sucked its victim's blood. I thought it might be a related species to my own dear ancestors, but it turned out it was just one of your dangerous pets."

His eyes snapped open at last and Helen was briefly taken aback at how intense they looked in the half light of the cave.

"Did you have to kill it?"

"Helen, it was eating people! And while that wouldn't usually bother me it thought I looked tasty, and whilst that's true I don't like being bitten. That, and that purple really didn't go with the decor."

Helen rolled her eyes. After a couple more moments Nikola prised himself off the wall and glanced around the cave.

"Well, as nice as it was seeing you again Helen, we really can't keep meeting like this. I must be off, people to see, places to be, worlds to conquer and all that. Give my regards to Hairy McClairy, were-boy and Dr. Expendable for me." And with that, he abruptly walked out of the cave and Helen's life once more.

She turned back around to find Will looking at her strangely, Big Foot snuffling around in the background.

"Was that-?" he began. Helen nodded. "And did you just let-?" She nodded again, more sharply this time, not in the mood for Will's digging. She raised an eyebrow, daring him to comment, and watched as he backed off.

Big Foot grunted. "Tidy up time." And then he too turned away, leaving Helen alone with her thoughts.

**~Fin**

**I'd really appreciate feedback. Thanks for reading, more up soon.  
**


	5. Deja vu ish

**AN: Okay, so this is actually the second story I wrote for this collection but I couldn't seem to finish it for ages, and it turned out longer than I expected. This one is most related to the Sleepers comment and is also the longest. AU after Sleepers, spoilers for that. Contains swearing, violence, vampires and Helen getting beaten up, sorry. Still unbeta'd and I still don't own anything. Italics are flashbacks, I have a fondness for flashbacks. Reviews and concrit loved.  
**

The Rescue

It was dark when Helen awoke; the illumination from the small window was cast only by starlight now. She groaned as she tried to remember what had happened.

Memory failing her for the time being, she struggled to get up before realising she was chained: hands loosely above her head, ankles shackled to the floor.

Her knees were aching from kneeling for so long, her arms tired from being kept up. While she'd been unconscious she'd sagged against her restraints cutting into her skin, rubbing her wrists raw.

Overall, she was in quite a lot of pain, although the throbbing on her left side was most prominent. It felt like she'd broken a rib or two...

***~~~***

_Helen cried out in pain as the bigger man kneed her repetitively in her left side while the other held her pinned to the wall._

"_I'll ask once more," one of them said; Helen could no longer tell which one. Her vision was starting to blacken and they both looked the same anyway, _didn't they_? "Where have you taken Peter?"_

_Helen laughed. Here she was, drugged and defenceless against them, and they still felt the need to have two of them in the room at the same time with her. They were still scared of her, even now._

"_Go to hell." She growled out from beneath clenched teeth, and then spat in whoever's face it was swimming before her. She was rewarded with another kick in the ribs before they'd left her chained; slipping into unconsciousness._

***~~~***

Helen jolted up. She's started to lose consciousness again; and as she didn't know how much damaged she'd obtained, she didn't think that was wise.

At least she remembered what had happened now...

***~~~***

_Helen was on her way down to the nearest Fish and Chip shop – she'd had a sudden craving for vinegar covered potatoes, (she blamed stress) – when someone shoved a bag over her head from behind._

_She went for her gun, but they were too quick; disarming her before she'd noticed. She felt a prick in her left arm as they injected her with something. Only seconds later she felt herself becoming lethargic; whatever that stuff was, it was fast acting._

_She tried calling out for help, but the bag smothered most of her words._

_Someone grabbed her around the waist and bundled her into a vehicle of some sort (if her ears were to be believed) and Helen felt it accelerate under her._

"_Where are we going?" she cried out, unsure whether her words would get through. Someone poked her with the butt of a gun._

"_Shut up bitch."_

_Helen was alarmed, and not just by her captors foul mouths. She didn't know if anyone had seen her being taken as there hadn't been many people out and about today. She tried not to think about what would happen if no one had seen anything._

_She quickly berated herself for such thoughts. _You trained them yourself Helen, what are you worried about?

_She decided not to answer that inner question._

_When Helen started to feel the drugs wear off she wasn't sure how much time had passed._

_She noticed she'd been stripped of her jacket (which contained her phone) and she was pretty sure her shoes were gone too. She couldn't remember either of them being taken._

_Soon they stopped moving, and she was bundled out of the car – her captors making sure she banged her head on the way out – and felt herself being slung over someone's shoulder. _What a dignified way to travel...

"_Enjoying the view from up their missy?" asked some sarcastic bastard._

_Helen only growled in response._

_She was dumped on a rough floor, and someone took the bag off of her head. Helen took the chance to take note of her surroundings._

_She was in a small concrete room that was obviously a cell. There was a small window set high on one wall; there were no lights so it gave the only illumination. Helen immediately felt a sense of relief wash over her: it was still daylight, so not too much time could have passed..._unless a whole day had passed...

_There were two beefy henchmen types in the cell with her. They both had closely shaven head, gaunt, pale skin, with scars competing for space with their facial features. It looked like the scars were winning._

_The bigger of the two loomed over her – not a hard feat as she was on the floor. "Where's Peter?" he snarled, flecks of spit flying from his mouth._

"_Who?" said Helen, feigning ignorance._

_The smaller guy grabbed her head and slammed it against the wall. Helen grunted in pain._

"_Small, furry guy. Teeth missing. Breaths fire." The big guy said. "Where is he?"_

_Helen shrugged. These guys didn't seem to be able to form sentences longer than a few words. "Probably in some fairytale; where creatures of myth belong."_

_She looked up into two very un-amused faces._

_Soon she was pinned to the wall with a knee in her left side._

***~~~***

This time Helen was jogged from her memories by the sound of the door opening.

At some point in the last few minutes her eyes had slipped shut, and now she couldn't be bothered to open them. She took a deep breath in; noticing as she did that it was getting harder to do so. _Uh oh._

"I thought I told you to go to hell." She spat out.

"Probably." A strangely familiar voice replied. "But then again, when have I ever listened?"

Helen was struggling to place the slightly annoying voice. "Who..." she trailed off, realising she'd run out of breath. She took another lungful of air, as deep as she could, which wasn't much.

"Helen?" the voice sounded concerned. She groaned as it came nearer. Two hands placed themselves on either side of her face. "Helen, I need you to look at me."

Slowly she prised open her eyes. The worried face of Nikola Tesla swam grudgingly into focus.

"Helen, do you know who I am?"

She nodded and pain flared up in her head. "Nik-la" she gasped. The man in question breathed a sigh of relief: then she started coughing.

The slightly metallic taste in her mouth worried her. It seemed to worry Nikola too; his face adopted a rather alarmed look.

"Helen, I need you to tell me where it hurts."

Helen snorted. "Ev'r'ere."

"That is not helpful Helen!" Nikola snapped.

Helen was finding it hard to reply.

Nikola slapped her cheeks gently. "Helen, where?"

His voice sounded really agitated to Helen's ears, but it was hard to tell as the noises were getting dimmer. Some part of her brain registered the question though, and her mouth managed to grind out an answer. "Left...side."

"You know Helen; I'm getting a strange feeling of déjà vu here, though minus the vampires and kiddies, plus some injuries..."

Helen tried to smile. "Focus." She drew in another painful breath.

Nikola's hands had moved from her face now and were gently prodding her left side. Suddenly the pain quadrupled, and Helen cried out. The poking stopped.

"Okay, okay, no more of that now. Let's get you out of here." Nikola made some strange-looking gestures with his hands and Helen suddenly found herself falling forwards, free from her restraints. Nikola caught her before she could hurt herself.

"How?" she asked, but it came out more like a grunt. Nikola seemed to understand though.

"I've been practising with my new talents m'dear, and I seem to have got the hang of it. How did you think I got in here? With a key? You know, it's amazing how many bad guys have a fondness for metal – me included."

Helen felt herself being gently lifted into Nikola's arms; her left side outwards so as not to cause further damage. She felt safe there, and was planning on saying so, but she couldn't seem to form sentences even in her head anymore. Her vision was tunnelling as well.

"Thanks." She muttered instead, before finally passing back into unconsciousness.

***~~~***

Nikola Tesla wasn't usually the type of man to be worried, but with Helen Magnus passed out in his arms, he had to admit he was anxious. In the end he gave up trying not to jog her and instead just ran as fast as he could.

Upon approaching the van he could hear the general grumbling of the two kids. They'd agreed to meet back here when the job was done. The kids had gone after the abnormal – a violent little thing, Peter's brother they were told – while he'd gone after Helen.

Nikola turned the corner and saw them sitting in the open back of the van, a violently rocking box between them. He called out before they noticed him.

"Kate, get the van started up, we need to get back now! Will, move that thing out of the way then help me get her settled!" Both heads snapped up at once. Will looked like he'd been about to make a comment on Nikola's use of his name, but upon seeing Helen quickly changed his mind.

"Magnus." He rushed over as Kate ran for the driver's seat.

"She's fine," lied Nikola. "Now move that thing!"

Will snapped into action, pushing the suddenly silent box to the back. Maybe the thing was empathic.

Between them they manoeuvred Helen into the open back of the van, Nikola keeping her head in his lap and one hand on her wrist, constantly checking her pulse.

Will shut the back door and then banged on the inside of the van, indicating they were ready. It lurched into motion.

"What happened?" he questioned.

"I don't know," Nikola replied. "She was like this when I found her. She's battered and bruised all over, possible concussion, couple of broken ribs; one or more of which may be pressing against or have pierced the left lung, and she might be bleeding internally, but I didn't have time to examine her properly.

Will was momentarily stunned into silence, but Nikola wasn't paying him much attention anyway. His beautiful angel was lying in his lap, bleeding and broken, and he wanted nothing more than for her to get better.

"But..." Will finally recovered enough to reply. "But she'll be alright, right?"

Nikola looked up; letting Will see the uncertainty in his eyes.

"I hope so." He whispered. "God I hope so."

***~~~***

_It was about midday when they pulled up outside the warehouse. As had been mentioned in the anonymous tip off about a potentially dangerous abnormal; the place was deserted and had no security except a padlock._

_Helen sighed. _What is it about abandoned warehouses?

_Obviously she wasn't the only one who had noticed the cliché: Will gave an exasperated sigh, Kate rolled her eyes. Only the Big Guy remained stoic._

_Helen was sure that had Nikola been here he would have had some witty remark about it. But she'd decided to leave him behind, and not just because it would piss him off. Her old friend had been having varied degrees of success with his new abilities, most of them being failures with everything going almost comically wrong, generally ending in lots of broken...well..._ of course there'd been the incident with the toaster...

_Will coughed; Helen jumped, quickly berating herself for getting distracted on the job. She'd often found her thoughts wondering towards Nikola lately; the way he smiled, his ability to make her feel 100 years younger, often at the most inconvenient times..._Like now!

_Helen shook herself and ordered the team to get moving._

_She had just got out of the car when one of the warehouse doors burst into flames._

"_Ouch," Will said. "Looks like when our informant said 'possibly dangerous' he actually meant 'fire-breathing deadly'._

_Kate headed off to get the handy fire extinguisher in the boot. Everyone else pulled out their stun guns._

"_Alright." Helen began as Kate put out the flames. "From the information we were given it seems that whoever 'owns' this abnormal has either abandoned it or is keeping it here for their own protection." Another part of the building burst into flame as she spoke and Kate rushed off to deal with it. Helen continued regardless. "We don't know how intelligent this abnormal is, and as it appears dangerous I suggest we go in quietly and stun at the first sign of aggression. If it-"_

_She never finished her sentence as a huge ball of fire suddenly burst through one of the warehouse windows, making straight for them._

"_Urr..that doesn't look good."_

"_Thanks for the update Will, we really appreciate it." Kate's flippant reply came as she brought the fire extinguisher up once more and fired._

_The flaming mass dropped as the water hit it, revealing a humanoid creature, covered in fur. It landed on its feet and growled at them, revealing lots of missing teeth._

_The group watched as it took a deep breath._

_Helen stunned it. _

_Will walked cautiously forward, stun gun still raised in case it was still awake. He poked it with his gun; satisfied it wasn't suddenly going to wake up he examined it more closely._

"_Magnus." After a couple of pokes he beckoned her over, pointing to the abnormal's neck. Helen went over, looking at what he was pointing at._

_Around the neck was a leather collar; the name 'Peter' spelt out in fake rubies that glistened in the sunlight._

_Helen looked at Will, and then back towards 'Peter'._

"_Well then Peter, let's get you home."_

_***~~~***_

It was dark when Helen awoke.

Then she opened he eyes and the light came flooding in. It was blinding after the blackness so she quickly closed her eyes again and let the dark soothe her, inviting her to slumber. But Helen didn't want to sleep anymore.

She opened her eyes again; slowly this time, allowing her pupils to compensate for the change. She looked up. The ceiling was high, plain and gratifyingly familiar. _Home._ She rarely thought of the Sanctuary as that anymore, but now she did: after all, it was. She stayed like that for a while; eyes open, not moving, content just to be.

Eventually Helen noticed footsteps gently plodding across the floor towards her. A lab coated Nikola came into view. He hadn't noticed she was awake yet, so Helen let him get on with whatever it was he was doing. Whilst he was working Helen took the time to study him; an opportunity she rarely ever got.

Since his transformation back into a mortal he'd become slightly more tanned; not much, but it made him look healthier whilst still being devilishly handsome. His hair was sticking up as always and- _Wait a minute, had she just called Nikola devilishly handsome?! _

Helen pondered this for a second before concluding that she must still be drugged. Although, now that she thought about it he was rather attractive; not that she'd ever tell him that, his ego was big enough without her adding to it.

Someone coughed. Helen looked up to find Nikola staring down at her, eyebrows raised.

"You are awake then; I was starting to think you slept with your eyes open."

Helen gave him a patronising look. "Nikola-"

"That's _Doctor_ Nikola to you. And don't get up."

Helen frowned as she'd been about to do just that. "So, what's the prognosis _doctor_?" The sarcasm dripped from her voice and onto the bed.

Nikola only smirked. "Well you'll be bedridden for a couple more weeks though your injuries weren't as bad as they could have been."

Helen's expression was wary. "What do you mean; "a couple more weeks"."?

Nikola grinned and Helen felt her stomach drop.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? You've been unconscious for three weeks."

***~~~***

Will was on his way to visit Helen when he heard her shouting. He could definitely make out the words 'Nikola' along with some colourful adjectives and swear words. Deciding not to get on her bad side he headed off to find something to eat. But he couldn't help but wonder what Nikola had done now to annoy her; after all, they'd only rescued their illustrious leader yesterday.

~**Fin**

**I would love to hear your comments.  
**


	6. Hanging on

**AN: I'd just like to thank all of you for the wonderful reviews, they really inspire me to write more.**

**This story was partially inspired by the scene in Haunted (no spoilers, you'll know the one I mean if you've seen it) and also by the song Perfect Day by Lou Reed which has the line 'You just keep me hanging on.'**

**Set anytime pre Sleepers. I only own the mistakes, though I have some plastic handcuffs for kiddies...Flashbacks in italics - I really am fond of them :)**

Hanging on

"So," said Nikola.

"So." replied Helen.

As awkward conversations in awkward situations went, this had got to be high up on the list. Nikola and Helen were hanging from a beam running across the inside of a cathedral roof, clutching on for dear life. At any other time they both would have been more than happy to have a chance to admire the interior artwork from such a vantage point; however, this was a life and probable-death or at least serious pain situation.

"If only you had kept your big mouth shut Nikola, we never would be in this mess!"

"Me? I wasn't the one who handcuffed us together and put the key in her shoe, which coincidentally happens to be on the floor – where we should be!"

Helen had to give him that one. Whilst it had been his continuous yapping that had got some mafia type organisation on their tails, the handcuffs had been her plan, though they had seemed like a good idea at the time. But Helen wasn't willing to admit defeat yet.

"How else was I supposed to waltz through the streets covered in blood with a gun in my hand? I had to make it look like I was arresting you or someone would have phoned the real police."

"Of course Helen." Nikola sighed, knowing that Helen was right but never going to say it. "And it had nothing to do with the fact that you just wanted to be handcuffed to me whilst running for our lives."

Helen's mouth opened in shock. "Do you really think I would-"

The beam creaked: the duo froze.

They stayed like that for a while, handcuffed together, completely silent, praying that the beam wouldn't break and send them plummeting down. Nikola was pretty certain he could survive the fall, although it wouldn't be pleasant; but while he was attached to Helen because he was unable to break the small chain without risking the dome's structural integrity, and she wasn't quite so indestructible, he'd decided that was one theory to test out another day. Helen had arrived at the same conclusion also, and so they'd decided to wait for rescue by another means.

However, it had been over an hour, their wrists were killing and the conversation had become boring and tense to say the least.

"_Nikola!" shouted Helen. "They're gaining on us!"_

"_I know!" the vampire replied. "This way!"_

_The two immortals were flying through the streets, desperately trying to escape their pursuers. They'd been on the run off and on for seven hours now, and both were getting rather stressed. Suddenly Nikola spotted a cathedral and ran for it, dragging Helen along with him._

_The latter looked at their destination, startled by Nikola's choice and told him so. "What the hell are you thinking? There'll be civilians in there!"_

"_Really? I generally thought most people were in bed at two in the morning!"_

_They reached the outer wall where Nikola had found a small spiral staircase leading up to the cathedral roof, probably for maintenance purposes. Running up the stairs as fast as they could go after sprinting for a good couple of miles, they hoped the mobsters would lose sight of them. They reached the top and started heading around the dome to the other side. Neither saw the hole in the planking, just big enough for two people to fall through._

_One minute they were heading downwards, the next they'd been brought to a sudden halt. Nikola looked up to find out what had happened and came face to face with Helen's frightened gaze. Their fall had been broken by a support beam not far from the roof when their handcuffs had been on either side of it; meaning they'd been caught on the bar. Realising that neither the beam nor the handcuffs had been designed to take the weight of two adults the pair quickly adjusted their grip, trying to alleviate the stress upon them._

_Helen was breathing heavily; most likely from shock and Nikola didn't feel too good either._

"_Great," said Helen once she'd recovered her breath. "This is going to be interesting."_

_Nikola agreed._

After both were satisfied the beam wasn't about to snap simultaneous sighs were released. Their gazes met and Helen chuckled while Nikola looked on in puzzlement.

"What?" he snapped. "Is there something in my teeth?"

Helen shook her head slightly, still wary of their precarious position. "There never is a dull moment with you is there?"

Nikola grinned, his good humour restored once more. "I try my best." Helen had a point actually; they always seemed to get into the most ridiculous of situations, most full of blood, guts and his crazy experiments. But that was life, and he wouldn't change it for...well, maybe if someone offered him the world he would, but the thought was there.

Helen's eyes suddenly took on an 'I have an idea but I don't like it' tint. She'd just remembered something, something which could be useful.

"Nikola," she began, eyes fixed firmly on his hands. "Could you possibly let go?"

Nikola stared. "Of course, I'd be more than willing to kill us both."

Helen hastily corrected herself. "With one hand. There's a pen knife in my right sleeve."

"You never fail to completely amaze me you know."

Helen smiled, and mimicked his earlier phrase. "I try my best."

"I have to ask why you didn't mention this an hour ago, when we first got stuck up here."

"Well, whilst I've been trying not to loosen my grip and die for the last hour it must have just slipped my mind."

Nikola rolled his eyes and flexed his uncuffed hands' fingers experimentally. The beam creaked a bit. "Well, here goes."

Helen watched as Nikola prised his hand off the support. There was a definite downward movement as the weight shifted and a large groan escaped the woodwork. Nikola quickly placed his hand back on the beam and the ominous noise stopped.

Helen sighed. "Now what?"

This time it was Nikola's eyes that took on the special tint; he grinned broadly showing all his teeth.

"Now we improvise."

Nikola slowly leant forward towards Helen's right arm.

"Nikola, what do you think you-" Helen broke off as Nikola's teeth met her arm. "Nikola, think about it. This is not going to work."

Nikola pulled back and grinned, one pen knife held between his teeth, triumph written on his face.

"And how do you intend to use that?" Helen asked. "The knife is closed and neither of us have any free hands. You didn't think this through, as per usual."

Nikola's face fell and he looked rather hurt. "I was just trying to hel-" Both their gazes took in the sight of the now freely falling pen knife rapidly disappearing below them. "Damn."

Helen took a deep breath to try and calm down; her day just kept getting worse and worse.

"Let's just hope there's no one directly below or they'll have 'death by unopened pen knife' written on their tombstone."

Helen couldn't help but laugh at Nikola's statement.

"You know," he continued along a not completely unrelated route. "I've always wondered why they call them death 'certificates'. It's not like the deceased are going to wake up and go "thanks very much, I've always wanted one of these. Now I'm officially dead!" I don't really see the need to have to confirm that someone is dead. One would hope that by now you people could tell the difference between a dead person and a live one."

Helen smiled. "I've got a copy of your death certificate you know."

Nikola raised his eyebrows. "Really?" Helen nodded the affirmative. "Wow, that's kinda sweet."

Helen stared. "I'm sorry....what?"

Nikola continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Although it's also rather creepy." He turned his gaze inwards as if pondering over the subject.

Helen sighed and concentrated on hanging on.

Five minutes later, having decided that he really needed to know, Nikola spoke again

"Did you ever wonder what had happened to me? You know, after I 'died'?"

Helen was suddenly very conscious of the paths their conversation could lead down; she answered bluntly and truthfully, hoping it would be enough to stop further related questions and therefore memories surfacing.

"All the time."

Nikola looked up as she spoke, surprised by her answer and not bothering to hide it. "Really?"

Helen shot him a patronising look. It clearly read: _'Yes, why would I lie, now _drop it_!"_

Nikola seemed to take the hint, and became silent once again, but the smugly pleased smile on his face showed what he thought.

It was another couple of minutes before the silence was interrupted once more.

"Helen..."

Helen looked up at his voice and came face to face with a very awkward looking man hanging onto a wooden beam in a cathedral roof. "Nikola?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow. Nikola bit his lip before responding.

"I need the loo."

**~Fin**

**I couldn't resist the ending, sorry. I'd love to know what you think. Con crit appreciated.  
**


	7. Not Alone 1

**AN: Once again you have my apologies for the wait but it couldn't be avoided. So this piece is actually related to one of the earlier stories - The Promise, though not too much, and this is also only the first part. I still need to re-draft the second but it should be up soon. I've put this in this collection because of its relation to The Promise, but also becasue it is Helen and Nikola locked in a room together - although this isn't that kind of story. Hurt/Comfort, unbeta'd. I don't own Sanctuary. Oh, and you're either going to have to make up your own tune or treat the little song as a poem. Set shortly post Eulogy, spoilers for that and End of Nights. Italics are flashbacks once again :p  
**

**Thank you so much to everyone for all your reviews, I really, really appreciate it and I'm sorry I haven't been able to update in a while.  
**

Not Alone - 1

Helen knew she wasn't alone as she wriggled out of sleep; even with her eyes closed she could tell who it was. His presence could be felt in all her room's corners; he positively exuded determination, mixed with something darker, speckled with coloured strands. And let's not forget the arrogance: sometimes Helen thought he wore it as aftershave.

She opened her eyes and sat up in one movement. Unsurprised to see his figure outlined in front of her curtains, she got straight to the point.

"What do you want Nikola?" She was sure she could see his grin even through the darkness.

"I've locked the door." Nikola replied, throwing the key between his hands. He knew it infuriated Helen when he ignored her questions, and he did so enjoy making her angry. He liked it when she snapped; it reminded him of their youth.

Helen ground her teeth in frustration and got out of bed. She was dressed only in a white night gown but she didn't care; after living more than 150 years one tended to learn not to be embarrassed around old friends. And of course the only light in the room was that let in by one open curtain, (she'd been sleeping with one open now, just to remind herself the world was still there, still turning, even after all that had happened).

She paced over to the door and asked again,

"What are you doing here Nikola?"

Nikola smiled, enjoying the exasperated look on her face when she confirmed that the door was indeed locked. She stalked back into the room and he took the chance to run his eyes appreciatively over her gowned form.

"I came to see you."

For once his answer was clear and serious, free from his usual tone. Helen was startled by it.

"What?"

"Honestly Helen, I think you're going deaf." The teasing was back. "I said I came to see you."

Nikola lifted his head from his hands to look at the woman standing metres away from him. Their eyes locked. Helen looked away first.

"Why?"

"Now there's a good question." He pointed to her with the key. "One, I might add, I don't know the answer to."

Helen raised her eyebrows. "And you say you're a genius." If he was playing games she wanted to know it.

"Alas, even the genius must be fooled sometimes; how else are we to learn?"

Helen didn't reply. Nikola sighed.

"I came to see you Helen; to make sure you're alright." Nikola slowly moved closer as he said this; he didn't think Helen had noticed. He watched as she stiffened at his words and turn away slightly: she was still facing him but he could no longer see her expression by the small amount of light the open curtain let in.

"I'm fine." Even Helen, having just woken up, could hear the lie in her voice.

It told Nikola everything he needed to know. He quickly walked over to the suffering woman and pulled her into a hug.

Helen had expected smiles or words of condolence; she hadn't expected the seemingly insensitive vampire to _hug _her. She immediately tensed, but Nikola held on, knowing she needed this as much as he did.

***~~~***

_Nikola watched from the darkness as Helen finally laid the beads in the empty coffin. He saw the pain in her eyes, but also the acceptance. He was glad; he never wanted to see the Helen Magnus of the last few days again._

_He watched as she finally walked away, tears staining her face._

_He was tempted for a while to go after her, to try to offer some words of comfort, or apologise for leaving so quickly. But he didn't; he knew his words would fall on deaf ears._

_Instead he did what he had come to do: dropping down from the roof, he slowly made his was towards the casket, head bowed in respect._

"_Ashley," he began, and then stopped, feeling self-conscious for the first time in a while. He didn't like the feeling but it had invaded all the same, and now his previous courage has deserted him._

_He walked closer to the symbol of death and carefully gripped the side._

"_Thanks for keeping your promise."_

_For a moment the vampire could almost believe a hand rested upon his shoulder. A shiver ran down his spine as a draft flowed past his ear, whistling as it went: "Look after her for me, okay?"_

_Nikola whispered back: "Always."_

_***~~~***  
_

Eventually he felt Helen relax in the embrace and drew her closer towards him, at the same time hooking a chair leg with his foot and pulling it under them both.

Helen didn't notice they were sitting down until she suddenly realised she was sitting on Nikola's lap. Almost instantly she tensed again, thinking she should pull away: Nikola held her tighter. He could feel his shoulder starting to get damp with the tears neither of them knew had started falling. But he didn't mind; as long as it helped.

Helen hadn't heard Nikola sing for more than a hundred years, so she almost didn't recognise his rich voice as he began to softly sing to her.

"There's nothing I can do  
To stop you feeling blue.  
There's nothing I can say  
To make the pain go away;  
I'll just sit here and hold you and hope that it helps.

Some people might lie:  
Say everything will be alright.  
Some people might smile,  
Try to talk for a while;  
I'll just sit here and hold you and hope that it helps.

The pain you're going through  
Could be something quite new  
Or it could have been buried deep inside of you.

The hurt that's always there  
Sometimes is hard to bear  
Feeling like your heart is about to tear

You can tell me about it if you like.  
You can keep your mouth shut if you like.  
You can smile if you want,  
You can cry if you can't;  
And I'll just sit here and hold you and hope that it helps."

***~~~***

Helen woke up a couple of hours later according to the moonlight. Nikola was gone but now she knew she was no longer alone.

The key to her bedroom door was lying on her table; beside it was a note that read:

_Until we meet again,  
_

_Nikola._

_PS: You still look hot_


	8. Not Alone 2

**AN: So here's the second part of Not Alone, I hope you enjoy.**

**As usual I don't own, set shortly after the ending of Sleepers.**

**Another massive thank you to my readers and reviewers! Oh, and there's more flashbacks - yay!  
**

Not Alone - 2

Nikola was sprawled on the floor of his lab and had been for the last several hours, ever since Helen had been called away. They'd been having a most enjoyable time; just the two of them and the wine, when that pesky apprentice had come in with his serious face on...

***~~~***

_Helen was laughing at something he had said: to be honest he had no idea what it was, he'd spent the last hour or so trying not to kiss her and had just let his mouth ramble. But he laughed too, if only for show._

_There hadn't been a reoccurrence of the tray incident since it'd detached itself from his hand, but some of the objects around the room seemed to quiver when Nikola gestured dramatically to emphasise his words. _

_Helen looked towards him again and Nikola suddenly found himself drowning quite happily in her eyes. _

_Helen noticed that Nikola seemed to be getting a little tipsy and smiled to herself. If it made him get over his depression she was more than willing to put up with a drunken Nikola – something she remembered all too well from their youth._

_She put a hand on his shoulder to steady him as he started to tilt forwards: he caught it, still lost in her eyes._

_Suddenly the door burst open and Will came in._

"_Magnus." He breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath after what must have been a long run. He didn't bother to apologise for the intrusion. "We need to talk."_

"_Can't it wait Will?"_

"_It's Henry; he's ummm..." Will trailed off, eyes darting to Nikola and back to Helen._

_Nikola had watched as Helen's facial expression went from happy to alarmed, and then angry to unreadable._

_Helen got up swiftly as she caught Will's meaning. Concerned about Henry's welfare she hurried to the door to follow Will's now retreating back. Pausing on the threshold she turned back and addressed the man she was ditching._

"_I'm sorry Nikola, this might take a while." And then she left, leaving one suddenly sober ex-vampire in her wake._

_Nikola left the wine on the table and retreated to his lab, sighing as he went._

***~~~***

Helen wasn't surprised to find the room Nikola and she had been in earlier now empty. What did surprise her though was the amount of wine still left in the bottle: it looked like it hadn't been touched since her departure.

Helen tried to clench the guilty feelings taking root in her gut. She failed; after all she had deserted Nikola without an explanation, and now he was probably sulking somewhere. Deciding to try and make up for leaving she set off to find the elusive Mr. Tesla.

***~~~***

She finally found him in his lab, doing a starfish on the floor. He turned away from the door as she entered, attempting to hide the tears that had made their way down his cheeks.

"Nikola?" Helen couldn't help but be concerned as the previously lively not-so-young man hid his face from her.

Nikola couldn't reply without showing his distress, so he didn't, choosing instead to give a half-hearted wave with one hand. He was surprised when the hand was caught by another, smaller one: he hadn't heard Helen cross the room towards him.

Helen crouched down next to the despondent man, one of his hands grasped in her own. "I'm sorry Nikola, I shouldn't have..." she trailed off as Nikola turned to face her, tear tracks glistening.

"Shouldn't have what? Gone to help Henry? Rescue me from the vampire brats? Ever talked to me at Oxford? What Helen! What shouldn't you have done?" He knew his tone was hard and bitter, but he couldn't bring himself to care: he was hurting and depressed and it was all Helen's fault... Only he knew that wasn't true, nothing that had happened to him had been Helen's fault, he was the only one to blame. He hung his head in shame and prepared to apologise, but before he could do so he felt his arm being lifted up as Helen placed her palms – one still holding his – on either side of his face.

"Oh Nikola." She breathed onto his face. Helen didn't blame him for his outburst; she'd been in similar position not too long ago and knew how bitter and angry at the world he felt. Loosing something or someone so precious made one find little pleasure in anything, only thinking about what you'd had and all the regrets you were left with now it was gone.

She pulled him up towards her and placed his head on her shoulder. He slumped forwards into her embrace, no longer aware of anything else but the two of them. A gentle sound filled his ears as Helen started to sing.

"There's nothing I can do  
To stop you feeling blue.  
There's nothing I can say  
To make the pain go away;  
I'll just sit here and hold you and hope that it helps.

Some people might lie:  
Say everything will be alright.  
Some people might smile,  
Try to talk for a while;  
I'll just sit here and hold you and hope that it helps.

The pain you're going through  
Could be something quite new  
Or it could have been buried deep inside of you.

The hurt that's always there  
Sometimes is hard to bear  
Feeling like your heart is about to tear

You can tell me about it if you like.  
You can keep your mouth shut if you like.  
You can smile if you want,  
You can cry if you can't;  
And I'll just sit here and hold you and hope that it helps."

***~~~***

"You remembered my song" He muttered into her shoulder sometime after she had finished.

"Of course Nikola, it's beautiful."

"Hmmm..."

"Nikola? Are you even listening?"

"Hmmm..." to be honest Nikola wasn't really listening anymore, he was currently breathing in the sweet smell of _Helen _that he'd come to recognise.

Helen sighed, and traced small patterns on his back. Soon enough she heard her companions breathing deepen and even; tell tale signs of sleep.

Trying to extricate herself from him she suddenly realised she couldn't; at least not without waking Nikola up, and considering all he'd been through today she didn't think that was a good idea. So she sat there, holding him, until she too fell asleep.

**~Fin**


	9. Unplanned

**AN: First of all, my apologies that this has taken so long, but I have to warn you that I'm sort of running out of ideas. There should be some more, but they will probably be few and far between. I'm not going to mark this as complete though, because it's ongoing, at least for now. Hopefully soon though I will start going back and elaborating on the ones in this collection people have shown interest in seeing continued, although I can make no guarentees, sorry.**

**Well, now that that's done, on with this. I honestly haven't a clue when this is set, it could even be an AU meeting instead of The Five, but its before Sleepers anyway. No spoilers that I'm aware of, still unbeta'd, still disclaimed, please enjoy :)**

Unplanned

Nikola stared warily at the object that looked suspiciously like the muzzle of a gun, pointed between his eyes. Looking inwards was starting to give him a headache, so instead he turned his attention to the angry woman wielding the dangerous weapon.

"Helen..." he tried to placate her, but Helen Magnus was having none of it.

"No Nikola!" she growled. In other circumstances he might have found that sexy, but point blank range with a nasty looking firearm was a little off putting: being immortal wasn't the same as being invulnerable. Helen carried on, strengthening her grip on the gun a little to emphasize her point; "I _demand_ an explanation! You can't just waltz into my bedroom and expect me to welcome you with open arms; especially not while I'm getting changed!"

Nikola couldn't help the smirk that surfaced when Helen unconsciously drew her hastily thrown on dressing gown further around herself. It was rather amusing, although his knees were starting to hurt from kneeling.

"It's not funny Nikola!" he quickly wiped the smile off his face and replaced it with a frown.

"I didn't waltz. For although I am an excellent dancer, I think _waltzing_ up those vines and through your window would surpass even _my_ level of expertise."

Helen rolled her eyes, but the gun wasn't lowered. "Very funny Nikola, but you're dodging the question – don't think I didn't notice."

"I would never think that you could be fooled by simple word games Helen." He tried to sound as sincere as possible, but Nikola found it hard to maintain when he was grinning inside. "Honestly, I wouldn't dream of it! And as for while you were changing, that was just good timing on my part, I can assure you it wasn't planned."

"Of _course_ not," his captor replied, not even trying to sound sincere. "Now explain."

"Oh but Helen, you know how I hate explanations; it wouldn't be _at all_ ladylike to demand such a thing of me. Although pointing a gun at a handsome young man isn't exactly ladylike either..."

The handsome young man swiftly realised that hadn't been the best thing to say to the woman holding the now cocked gun. He gulped and tried again.

"I would be more than happy to explain...once you put the gun away, after all, we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt now would we?"

Helen's face darkened at the barely veiled threat, and Nikola finally recognised that this method had been doomed from the beginning.

He gave a big, over dramatic sigh. "Fine, have it your way."

Nikola Tesla pounced.

***~~~***

Helen stared warily at the object that looked suspiciously like the muzzle of a gun, pointed between her eyes. Looking inwards was starting to give her a headache, so instead she turned her attention to the arrogant vampire wielding the dangerous weapon.

"Nikola..." she began, still wandering how the hell this had happened, but was cut off.

"Oh no Helen, now it's _my _turn." In other circumstances she would have assumed that next would come some outrageous plan for world domination, but diving through her window hardly seemed like the best place in the world to start. Also he would have known she was armed, and although she would never have pulled the trigger that close while he wasn't a threat, he wasn't to know that. So, not trying to take over the world then – at least not tonight. "You know I never meant to come in here; in fact, _falling_ through you window and landing flat on my face were certainly not part of the plan. Although your state of undress almost made it worth it."

Helen scowled at his last comment, and made a mental note to close her windows before retiring in the future. "So what were you doing here?" she hadn't made any progress before, but now he was the one with the gun Nikola would feel safer and be more likely to give something away.

"I'm the one asking the questions now...like where did you get that dressing gown from?"

It certainly wasn't what Helen had been expecting, so she had to fight down a blush as Nikola trailed a free finger down the red silk neckline. He hummed with appreciation. "Nice." Exactly what he was commenting on, she wasn't sure.

Helen took a deep breath to calm herself down, lest she frighten Nikola into shooting. She was pretty sure he wouldn't, but one could never be sure, and there were plenty of other valuables lying around she'd rather keep in one piece.

"You haven't answered the question." Nikola interrupted her train of thought.

"Neither have you." The reply was childish but true, the next bit more so. "I asked first."

"I'm the one with the gun."

"Touché."

Nikola grinned, and Helen found herself relaxing slightly. "It was a gift."

"What?" he seemed a little shocked at her abrupt reply.

"The dressing gown; it was a gift."

"From whom?"

"None of your business. Now it's your turn."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really, it's only fair."

Nikola sighed. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what I was doing here; it just seemed to...happen; and then one of those freaks of yours frightened me into falling through your open window. But now that I'm here..."

Suddenly the gun had been removed and Nikola's lips were briefly on hers. Startled, Helen was paralysed, unable to do anything in response. As it turned out the decision wasn't hers to make as Nikola swiftly retreated, and then took two steps back to further the distance between them. However, the gun still wavered in his hand.

"Well, I think that's compensation enough for holding me a gunpoint after our little misunderstanding." Nikola declared as he started towards her window, leaving a rather shocked Helen sitting on the floor. "Be seeing you." And then he was gone.

Freed from the web that had held her captive, Helen leapt up and ran to the ledge. Nikola was nowhere to be seen, although the gun that had caused so much trouble was resting innocently just outside. Sighing, she picked it up and turned away.

She left the window open.

**~Fin**

**I tried a slightly different style here, I hope it worked. Reviews loved and concrit welcome.**


	10. The Closet

**Been reading too much TW recently, so I apologise if that's rubbed off in this fic; though I think if it had the rating might have been a **_**little**_** bit higher...*cough***

**So this is the last "planned" story in this collection, as it has pretty much come full circle from the comment these were meant to be based on, in fact this is probably the most similar. Oh, and I couldn't resist the flashbacks. Or the OC. You might want to have a quick look back over The Promise – story number three to refresh yourself about Adam Johnson. Contains spoilers for that, Sleepers, and set AU after Sleepers; Nikola stays at the Sanctuary to help out, in the same universe as numbers 3, 5, 7 and 8, but only related to number 3 (slightly). Unbeta'd. I disclaim it all! Flashbacks in Italics.**

**So yeah, I hope you enjoy.**

The Closet

Some things were not meant to happen. _This_ was certainly one of them; although Helen had a feeling that the man she was currently squashed against would happily argue the contrary. Surprisingly, she was wrong. Normally this would be a dream come true for Nikola: himself, Helen, pressed up against and holding tightly to the other in a _very_ confined space: what more could a man ask for? But in these dreams the two of them weren't hiding from the bad guys with the big guns after he had royally screwed up, and she hadn't spent the last quarter of an hour silently fuming instead of fulfilling Nikola's fantasies.

_***~o~***  
_

"_Is this the place?" Helen whispered to the figure crouched beside her outside the factory._

_Nikola nodded. "One chemical explosives manufacturing plant slap bang in the middle of New York. You would have thought someone would have noticed."_

"_They did."_

"_Really? What happened?"_

"_They called us."_

_Nikola looked at her pointedly. Helen sighed and consulted her PDA. "According to your information the two guards should now be on the other side of the building. Are you sure your sources are trustworthy?"_

_Her almost life-long friend bristled. "Helen, surely you don't still doubt me?" Nikola didn't expect a reply: he didn't get one._

_Suddenly a voice made itself known over their earpieces. "Alright guys," Henry's usual tone doing nothing to build up suspense; "Security cameras are down, heat-sensors are down, big fat ray guns mounted on the roofs are...nonexistent. All clear boss."_

_Nikola ignored that he wasn't included in this last exchange of information, whilst Helen couldn't help but smile at her techie's antics. "Well done Henry; now let's keep it that way. Keep monitoring the system, and make sure you warn us in good time if anything changes."_

"_Will do boss." The line cut out._

"_Shall we?" Nikola gestured to the door on their right. Helen nodded, and they switched to military signals, or simply mouthing words once inside to keep as low a profile as possible._

_~oooooo~_

"_Impressive." Nikola whistled at the sight before them._

"_I'd be more likely to use the word_ disturbing_, and most likely more dangerous than we had imagined."_

"_Well, this certainly makes our job...trickier."_

"_Come on now Nikola, you're not going to let a few more vat-fulls of liquid explosive put you off the task now are you?"_

"_A few? I think we underestimated the number produced by at least a warehouse or two."_

_The sight spread out before them was somewhat astonishing. Having reached the lower level the duo had expected to encounter a couple of rooms full of lethal chemicals; what they found however was a cavern the size of two football pitches under the lowest level filled with suspicious looking containers. They didn't need to open them to know what they contained._

"_The more the merrier." Helen grinned childishly._

"_I think you mean the more explosive." Nikola turned and reached inside the backpack Helen was carrying. He pulled out several complicated pieces of equipment, and then slotted them together to make something that looked like a textbook drawing of a virus - the one's that look like 60s alien spaceships - although the effect was almost ruined by the glowing white circle pulsing in the top of it._

"_Will this still be enough to neutralise the chemicals?"_

"_Helen," Nikola spoke condescendingly but didn't look up from twiddling some buttons on the device, "I'm a genius, and being a genius I realised that something was bound to go wrong, so I gave this thing triple the dosage you suggested."_

"_Will it work?" Helen repeated, trying to refrain from batting her friend over the head._

"_Of course."_

"_Then set it up and let's go."_

_Nikola grumbled something about unappreciated scientists ruling the world someday. Helen ignored him._

_Two minutes later, the device was primed, and the room was devoid of life once more._

_~oooooo~_

_Things had gone far too well so far, and both scientists knew it; their job done, they proceeded cautiously back the way they had come._

_Maybe it was fate, maybe it was bad timing, or maybe it was just incorrect information: whatever it was, Henry's voice was suddenly heard over the comms again._

"_One guard, fast approaching, right on your six. Couple of minutes away max."_

_Helen froze, Nikola did the same, looking for somewhere to go. Now that they were silent the nearing footsteps could be clearly heard._

"_What about the other one?" Helen asked, striding over to check a door only to find it was locked._

"_Other four."_

"_What?"_

"_There are _four_ other guards."_

_Helen turned and glared at Nikola. "You said two!" She didn't wait for an answer, speaking again to Henry instead. "How close?"_

"_They're not too far away; close enough to hear a shot, shout or a thump."_

"_Damn." Helen swore as the next door proved inaccessible as well._

"_Hurry up doc, you've got less than a minute."_

"_Yes, thank you Henry; requesting radio silence from now on. Send backup if we haven't made it out within the hour."_

"_Roger that, Foss out." Another time she would have laughed at his theatrics and the way the sci-fi nerd in him had a tendency to come out at the most inopportune moments._

"_Back up?" Nikola questioned. "The geek, the butler and the bounty hunter do _not_ count as a retrieval squad."_

"_Not now!" Helen hissed as they ducked down another corridor. Both stopped stock-still as it turned out to be a dead end._

_The footsteps were closing in. More door handles were twisted. More curses uttered silently._

_Just as the footsteps were about to round the corner Nikola grabbed Helen's arm and bundled her through a half-open door into a small alcove beyond. Helen just had time to register some shelves, boxes and a broom before she was pulled roughly into an awkward embrace to accommodate the both of them in the space: then the door shut, and the lock 'clicked'._

_***~o~***_

Nikola sighed and moved slightly, shifting the arm behind Helen's back along the shelf there - dislodging pencils as he went – and pulling the arm wrapped around her waist – and consequently Helen – further towards him. Helen harrumphed as the pointed sticks tumbled down her jacket, and moved backwards: but there was nowhere to go and she grumbled as her back hit the shelves.

"I can't believe you locked us in a stationary cupboard!" she hissed (again).

Nikola pulled a face even though it wasn't visible in the darkened room – the bulb broken, the only illumination came from the cracks above and below the door.

"It wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know-?"

"You're information was old, you should know by now that stupid mistakes cost lives."

"It's hardly a life-threatening situation; we're locked in a cupboard!"

"Yes! We're locked in a cupboard in a known terrorist stronghold; I'd say that's a dangerous situation. If you hadn't pushed us in here-"

"We would have been caught!"

"We wouldn't be stuck!"

"I didn't know it was self-locking!" Nikola interrupted before Helen could really get going. "I mean what a ridiculously stupid thing to do: self-locking closets! I can see why you might want to lock the door, especially if you're with a hot young – or not so young – lady, but what about when you want to get out?" The slight leer in his voice wasn't quite enough to make Helen blush, but she was thankful for the darkness all the same.

"Well," she said, not willing to give up the blame game just yet, "I would think that only employees – who have _keys_ – would be using the storeroom after all..."

"You might be surprised..."

"Nikola!" Helen was already fed up with the situation without his childish behaviour.

"Quite right Helen, quite right. But that still doesn't solve _our_ problem and this broom is sticking into my ar-"

"Nikola!"

"What?" he asked, adopting a tone similar to that of a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar, desperately trying to sweet-talk their way out of punishment and into being given a cookie. Helen glared: Nikola rolled his eyes. "Honestly Helen, it's sticking into my arm;" he shifted, "not my ar-"

Helen suddenly clamped a hand over his mouth as some footsteps walked close by. "For goodness sake Nikola!" she hissed. "Keep your voice down."

Nikola smiled into her hand. "Anything for you my dear," he mumbled sarcastically, but the placement of Helen's hand meant it came out more like: "Imfing furr ooo ii ear."

Helen turned her head back towards him from the door with a puzzled expression on her almost invisible face. As she did so the arm wrapped around Nikola's head to keep her upright knocked some erasers off the shelf. "What?"

Taking his arm from around her waist he lifted her hand from his mouth. Helen, having just lost her main support, was forced to grab the front of his shirt to keep from falling. There was a small ripping noise. Nikola didn't notice that, or the quiet footsteps approaching their cubbyhole. Rather pleased with this new position, he continued. "I said, anyt-"

There was a larger ripping sound, and then Helen was falling backwards, just as the door opened.

_***~o~***_

Adam Johnson had finally found a new job: it had taken approximately twenty years, and it wasn't a particularly interesting one; but it was still a job. Adam considered himself lucky; after all, there weren't many jobs on offer for security guards who'd been fired for wrecking government kitchens and causing power failures in two states, even if – as he had explained – it hadn't been him, it had been the vampire. Fortunately for Adam, his father was pretty rich, so he had paid for Adam's survival – plus five psychologists, three therapists and even an expert on hallucinogens – until a new job could be found. Twenty years on and Adam was offered a trial place at a chemical factory that was increasing its security force. He was one of ten new guards, and so far everything had been "Just swell Dad."

It was the day before the end of the trial and Adam was confident about securing the position: nothing untoward had happened to see that he wouldn't. Then again, nothing at all had happened, and Adam (on his usual one-man patrol) didn't really understand why the chemicals needed so much protection. As far as he was aware, vat loads of garden fertilisers weren't high up on terrorist wish-lists.

He walked past a stationary cupboard – why they needed stationary he'd never know – but then paused at the muffled sounds coming from behind its door. Adam suddenly thought that he didn't know as much about terrorists as he'd believed.

He slowly crept closer.

Yep; there was definitely someone in there. Knowing that the four other guards currently patrolling were far too sensible/uptight to be messing around in closets and should have been at least fifty metres away, he put his ear to the door to try and discern how many terrorists there were.

There was a muffled ripping sound and some more scrabbling around. Adam, one hand on his gun, reached for the doorknob.

Some more words, a louder rip, and he pulled open the door.

A brunette in black leather toppled out and onto the floor in front of him. He stared. The fact that she was alive was the only thing different about her: it was the dead woman with the vampire from all that time ago.

"Nikola..." the dead lady groaned, placing a hand on her head to check for damage. Adam looked up, automatically pointing his gun at this Nikola fellow. He swallowed and dropped the gun, pointing dumbly instead. The thoughts racing through his head mainly consisted of; _Do you know how impossible this is? I must be drunk. I'm hallucinating. Father was right, you are insane._

"V...v...v...vampire!" he finally choked out. The man looked at him strangely. "Don't you know," he began as the dead brunette got up, "there's no such thing as vampires."

Adam was too much in shock to notice the butt of his gun come crashing down towards his head.

_***~o~***_

Helen stared at the man she had just knocked out. Although usually she would have preferred to stun or talk her way out of such situations, her current temper and lack of a stun gun had prevented either course of action.

She certainly didn't know the man now lying on the floor, but she had seen recognition in his eyes when they'd locked with hers, and he'd accused Nikola of being a vampire, which up till recently had been true.

Helen looked over to the not-vampire in question, but saw as much confusion in his eyes as in her mind. There was also a brief look of loss, or maybe longing, but that was quickly covered up as he met her gaze.

Before either of them could speak the klaxons positioned on the corridor walls started blaring.

Nikola raised an eyebrow. "I think we've been discovered!" he shouted above the noise.

Helen rolled her eyes as she took off down the hall towards the exit. "You don't say," she muttered as the two friends fled the scene of the crime.

_***~o~***_

Adam Johnson woke up in a white room, with a rather large and painful headache. Then he remembered the events of his last patrol and sat up straight, ignoring the pounding in his skull. It had been them again; the lady and the vampire, the ones who had caused him so much trouble and now had probably wrecked his chances at getting this job as well. Adam sighed, and that was when he noticed that the white room was actually still the corridor, and that there were all the other guards standing around him.

_Uh oh._ He thought. _This seems familiar; waking up in a situation with disapproving faces looking down at me – pretty much the story of my life._

Suddenly one of the guards – Barry – saw that he was awake and ambled over, causing everyone else to notice too and gather around.

Expecting a lecture, Adam was very surprised when they all burst into applause.

"Well done mate," said Barry.

Adam looked up at them all, confusion written plainly across his features. "What did I do?" he asked warily.

"You fought off those terrorists, man!" another guard said. "They saw what they were up against and fled, quick as all that!"

"They did?" Adam asked incredulously; as far as he had been aware he was pretty sure he hadn't presented a threat, certainly not enough of one to cause two terrorists to abandon their plans and flee.

"Yeah, you setting off the biohazard warning alarms was a stroke of genius, you stopped 'em. I mean sure, they beat you up a bit, but hey, you were outnumbered."

Adam nodded; at least that bit he could agree with: outnumbered; two against one. He sifted through the rest of the information in his head: he'd put the biohazard alarm in his back pocket, being pretty sure he wouldn't need it. He must have fallen on it when he'd been knocked out – or beaten up apparently – and set it off, spooking the intruders. But something didn't make sense...

"Did you get a good look at them mate?" Barry asked.

Adam crinkled his forehead as the pieces slotted into place. "Didn't the CCTV capture their faces?"

"Nah, all the cameras were down – they did somethin' to 'em, none of 'em was recording for 'bout two hours."

A smile slowly alighted on Adam's face. "So...you didn't see any of what happened?"

"Uh uh; we were kinda hoping you could fill us in." All the guards were looking at him expectantly. Adam's smile widened, maybe things were going his way after all. He gave himself a mental reminder to not mention vampires, or un-dead women.

"Sure guys, I'll tell you everything you want to know..."

_***~o~***_

"The neutralising agent should have detonated by now." Nikola declared when they were safely tucked away in the back of the van and on their way to the Old City Sanctuary.

"Detonated?" Helen asked incredeously. "I thought we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves!"

Nikola smirked. "Honestly Helen, it's not a bomb." Helen glared. "Fine, I'll start again: the neutralising agent should have been released by now. There, better?"

Helen couldn't help but smile. "Much." She settled back against the wall.

Silence fell as they both turned to internal reflection.

"By the way," Nikola interrupted after a while; "Why was there a broom in a stationary closet?"

**THE END**

**Reviews are loved!  
**


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